History of Muslims in USA

1530

African slaves started to arrive in America through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. During this trade more than 10 million Africans were brought to the Americas out of which at least 10% were West African Muslims. They worked on plantations and made a huge contribution to the American economy.

1539

Estevanico, a man of Muslim origin from Morocco, was enslaved and brought to Florida with the Spanish expedition of Narvaez in 1527. He along with three others became the first to cross the continent reaching the Spanish forces in New Mexico City. Two states, Arizona and New Mexico, owe their beginnings to him and he is also referred as a ‘discoverer of New Mexico’. He was enslaved by the Portuguese and is believed to have been converted into Christianity.

1630

Anthony Van Saleearrives in New York and becomes the first known Muslim settler in the New World. He was forced to move from Lower Manhattan to the other side of the river becoming the first settler of Brooklyn on a land later called as the ‘Turk Island’.

1732

Ayyub Sulaiman Diallo, a Muslim slave in Maryland, in one of the rare cases is set free by James Oglethorpe (founder of Georgia). He traveled to England before returning to his original life in his homeland in Africa.

1776

United States gets independence from Great Britain

1790

Moors from Morocco are reported living in South Carolina and Florida. A petition by some of them to the South Carolina House of Representatives has been recorded.

1805

President Jefferson arranged a sunset dinner for the Tunisian envoy, Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, making it the first known ‘iftar‘ at the White House

1807

Yarrow Mamout, was an African Muslim slave, who worked hard and was set free at the age of 60. He rose to become a financier owning stocks in Columbia Bank. There is speculation that he lived up to the age of 128 which would make him the oldest recorded person in America. There is a famous portrait of his, which was painted by Charles W. Peal in 1819. The portrait is kept in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. There is another portrait by James Simpson completed in 1828.

1807

US Federal Law passed by the US Congress to prohibit the importation of slaves into America. The illegal importation of slaves continued and slave trade within the country continued for many more decades to come.

1809

Omar ibn Said was re-enslaved in Charleston after running away. He was taken from jail by John Owen and placed on the Owen plantation. John Owen later became Governor of North Carolina. Omar was a rare slave who could write. He ‘converted’ to Christianity but his letters written much later after his ‘conversion’ had Islamic invocations and Quranic excerpts on them.

1820

Bilali Muhammad, a slave in Georgia, writes the Bilali Document which is considered as the ‘Mother Text’ of Islamic Literature in the United States. It was written by him from memory and was based on a popular religious text from West Africa.

1828

Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, was a former prince from West Africa who was enslaved and put on a Georgia plantation. He was freed by the Presidential Order of President John Quincy Adams after living in slavery for 40 years. Due to his royal background, he was well educated and wrote two autobiographies. His writings give a rare insight to the slaves of that time.

1840

Sayyid Sa’id, ruler of Oman, sends his ship The Sultanah to America which reaches the port in New York on April 30, 1840. The first Arab diplomat Ahmad bin Na’aman comes on the same vessel.

1856

The United States cavalry hire a Muslim Hajj Ali, who was sent from the Ottoman empire on the request of the US army. He managed the camel regiment.

1865

At the end of the American Civil War, the scorched earth policy was put in force against Confederate properties. It resulted in destruction of a large number of properties. During one of these the University of Alabama was burnt but only one book, a translation of the Quran, was saved as a souvenir on the request of the librarian Andre Deloffre. This event is almost a legend in Tuscaloosa.

1870

Reverend Norman, a Methodist missionary, becomes the first recorded American to convert to Islam. He had gone to Turkey as a Christian missionary but converted to Islam and came back to America to start preaching his newly acquired faith.

1888

Alexander Russel Webb a journalist and then an American diplomat to the Philippines converts to Islam. He is one of the first few Anglo-American converts and became an outspoken proponent of Islam in the nation.

1893

Muslim immigrants from the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, etc. arrive in North America. They are mainly Turks, Kurds, Albanians, and Arabs.

1910

Inayat Khan migrates from India to the United States and establishes probably the first Sufi Order in the US.

1913

Timothy Drew establishes an organization in Newark which later came to be known as the Moorish Science Temple of America. This was probably the first organized Black Muslim movement in America attempting an American version of Islam based on Drew’s personal beliefs. At its peak it had 30,000 black converts.

1915

The first Islamic associations are formed in the United States as Albanian Muslims build a Masjid in Maine and soon another one in Connecticut.

1920

A chapter of the Ottoman Red Crescent, modeled after the International Red Cross, is established in Detroit.

1921

A quarterly journal The Moslem Sunrise is published to to counter misrepresentations of Islam. It was established by the Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, a missionary of the Ahmadiyya community. He also established a branch of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Chicago. Many African Americans convert and join this movement.

1924

The Johnson-Reed Act passed to restrict the immigrants coming from Asia. It significantly put a quota restriction to stop the immigrants coming in from Asian countries resulting in significant impact on Muslim immigrants.

1930

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is founded by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in Detroit for African Americans. It becomes one of the most significant organizations among American Muslims . A high number of African Americans join the movement. It used symbols and motifs from mainstream Islam, but its core beliefs differed from it on many points.

1934

Elijah Muhammad becomes the leader of Nation of Islam after the sudden disappearance of Fard Muhammad. He started establishing places of worship called as Temples.

1952

Malcolm X, who joined Nation of Islam while serving in prison, is released on parole. He quickly rose to become a prominent figure in the movement almost rivaling Elijah Muhammad.

1952

The Federation of Islamic Associations of the U.S. and Canada is established in Chicago. Abdullah Igram, a World War II veteran convened the first meeting.

1953

Islam is recognized as a religion in the US armed forces after Muslims in the Armed Services request President Eisenhower to allow them to bear the badge with letter the ‘I’ for Islam. This was similar to being done for Christian and Jews so that it allows a proper burial in case of death on the battlefield.

1957

The Islamic Center of Washington D.C., which becomes the largest mosque in the western hemisphere at that time, is opened. President Dwight Eisenhower attends the dedication ceremony.

1962

The newspaper Muhammad Speaksis launched by Nation of Islam. It became one of the most widely circulated newspapers produced by an African American organization, reaching a readership of 800,000 readers at its peak. It was later called as the Muslim Journal.

1962

The Dar-ul-Islam movement is founded in Brooklyn with its roots in the State Street mosque in New York. It initially focused on exclusive membership of African American converts. It advocated the transformation of the African Americans in their culture and practices.

1963

The Muslim Students Association (MSA) is established as an organization to help Muslims students in their religious practices in college campuses across USA and Canada. MSA rose to have more than 100 branches nationwide. In later years it gave birth to many other organizations across the social and professional communities – Islamic Medical Association, The Association of Muslim Social Scientists (1972), and the Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (1971).

1964

Cassius Clay, the new world heavyweight champion, joins Nation of Islam. He changes his name to Muhammad Ali

Lew Alcindor converts to Islam and takes the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He goes on to become one of the most famous basketball player in sports history creating many sporting records.

1976

Warith Deen Muhammad, son of Elijah Muhammad, after the death of Eljiah takes over the leadership of the Nation of Islam. He changes the Nation of Islam to the World Community of al-Islam and leads its followers to mainstream Islam.

1982

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is established in Plainfield, IN as an an umbrella Muslim organization. It traces its origin to MSA and its 1963 convention as its first convention. It is widely regarded as the largest Muslim organization is North America.

1991

Imam Siraj Wahhaj becomes the first Muslim to offer the opening prayer of the United States House of Representatives.

1991

Charles Bilal is elected as the mayor of Kountze, TX becoming the first Muslim mayor of an American city. He probably becomes the first Muslim to a major elected office.

1992

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed becomes the first Muslim to offer the opening prayers to the US Senate.

First Lady Hillary Clinton hosts the White House’s first Eid celebration. This started a tradition of hosting the White House Iftar every year going forward which has been followed by Clinton, Bush and Obama.

1999

Ahmad H. Zewail becomes the first American Muslim to be awarded the Noble Prize. He is awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his groundbreaking work in femtochemistry.

2001

The U.S. Postal Service issues a stamp celebrating the Islamic holiday of the two Eid

2001

Al Qaeda executes four coordinated terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC killing about 3000 people. The subsequent US response has far reaching impact within US and beyond.

Within the country, its impact is felt in particular by the Muslim community with various surveillance programs launched covering institutions, civilians and mosques.

2007

Keith Ellison becomes the first Muslim to be elected to US Congress. He represents the house from Minnesota.

2012

Anti-Islam proponents launch protests against the building of mosques inManhattan(2011) andMurfreesboro (2012). The Federal judge dismisses the case against opening of the Murfreesboro mosque citing that the mosque cannot be subjected to more requirements than required from any other religious organization.

2015

New York City announces the addition of two holidays to the public school for the two Eids (Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha). For the first time all NYC schools to close on Sep 24th on the occasion of Eid-al-Adha.

2015

Zaytuna College becomes the first accredited Muslim College in USA. It is based on Holy Hill in Berkeley, CA. It was started as Zaytuna Institute in 1996 by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Hisham Alalusi. It was later established as a college by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir and Hatem Bazian.

Arifa Javed – The Academic & Producer

The Academic

Dr. Arifa Javed, teaches and researches Sociology at the University of Michigan in Dearborn. She hails from an academic family and has continued the tradition. Her recent research and work has focused on the immigrant community in the United States. She is creating an impact by entering into the field of producing documentaries around the same topic. Her first documentary ‘Essential Arrival’ has been well received and has been screened at multiple film festivals.

She herself is an immigrant from Hyderabad in India and that has helped her first hand to twine her personal experiences with her academic research. She lives with her husband and two children.

The Producer

Her interest in personal experiences of people as part of her academic work has moved her into writing and producing documentaries. Her first work ‘Essential Arrivals’ was released recently and was well received. It focuses on the Indian immigrants in the state of Michigan. It was directed by Indian director Raj Baruah and has been screened at the East Lansing and Indian Cine film festivals.

She is working on the script and production of documentaries in the coming years.

A Highway Adopted

Anyone travelling on I-275 en-route to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport can notice a prominent sign put up by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) with the name Muslim Community of Western Suburbs on it.

The Muslim Community of Western Suburbs in Michigan is taking care of keeping a two-mile stretch of a major highway clean for the past eleven years. This is under the MDOT program where any community can adopt a section of a freeway and take responsibility of keeping it clean.

As part of this program, three times every year volunteers from the local MCWS Mosque get together and pickup the garbage thrown on the sides of the freeway by passing traffic. The effort has been appreciated by the Michigan Governor through the issuance of certificate of appreciation of the good work being done.

Background

The ‘Adopt a Highway’ program is very popular in the Detroit area with some key stretches being on waiting list. MCWS worked with MDOT over a few months and was awarded this section to be taken care of. The organizers have noted that,

The motivation and reason behind our effort is two-fold. First and foremost, it is in partial fulfillment of our duty as Muslims to pro-actively engage in activities that positively impact the local society in which we live. Secondly…demonstrating such actions can serve as an example to re-enforce what Islam teaches.MCWS Organizers

Dream of Detroit

Building Detroit back from the Ashes

Detroit, once the jewel of the American economy, has now gone through the worst. It has been through the first bankruptcy of a major US city. But as things went from bad to worse with water connections being shutoff and houses being auctioned, there were Detroiters working tirelessly to make Detroit rise again.

Detroit has also been a center of American Muslim history and culture, leaving its impact in various ways. It was very apt that in any such effort of revival there would be Muslims in Detroit participating. Dream of Detroit was formed to help revive one inner city area through community organizing and strategic housing and land development. They’ve also partnered with groups like Project HUG (Huda Urban Garden) to promote community farming. The group is focused on the vision that the rise of Detroit is not only to be driven by a thriving business and entertainment district but also supported by sustainable neighborhoods.

Community Service

As part of this work, a group of 50 Muslims, on the sidelines of ISNA in Detroit, got into a bus and got to work. They put their hands and hearts in to help pull a house back from the fringes and help plant a community garden. The garden produce is intended to be given back to the community just around the farm.

The community service effort had a two-way purpose. It helped the project but also helped the people to connect to a side of the nation often ignored.

]]>http://www.muslimsofusa.com/dream-of-detroit/feed/0Alexander Russell Webbhttp://www.muslimsofusa.com/alexander-russell-webb/
http://www.muslimsofusa.com/alexander-russell-webb/#commentsSun, 22 Feb 2015 04:38:00 +0000http://www.muslimsofusa.com/?p=82
]]>http://www.muslimsofusa.com/alexander-russell-webb/feed/0Keith Ellisonhttp://www.muslimsofusa.com/keith-ellison/
http://www.muslimsofusa.com/keith-ellison/#commentsSat, 21 Feb 2015 18:17:04 +0000http://www.muslimsofusa.com/?p=77Keith Ellison is the first Muslim elected to the US Congress.
]]>http://www.muslimsofusa.com/keith-ellison/feed/0Hamza Yusufhttp://www.muslimsofusa.com/hamza-yusuf/
http://www.muslimsofusa.com/hamza-yusuf/#commentsSat, 21 Feb 2015 18:06:30 +0000http://www.muslimsofusa.com/?p=73Hamza Yusuf is the arguably the most influential Islamic scholar in the West. He is the founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. He is ranked in the top 50 most influential Muslims in the world.

Born as Mark Hanson in a Greek Orthodox Christian family in Washington state, he converted to Islam in 1977.

]]>http://www.muslimsofusa.com/hamza-yusuf/feed/0Muhammad Alihttp://www.muslimsofusa.com/muhammad-ali/
http://www.muslimsofusa.com/muhammad-ali/#commentsSat, 21 Feb 2015 14:10:44 +0000http://www.muslimsofusa.com/?p=69Born in Louisville, Kentucky as Cassius Clay in 1942, he rose through amateur and then professional boxing. He won the Olympic Gold medal in Rome and later turned to professional career. He stunned Sonny Liston to win the World Heavyweight champion title in 1964. He became a member of Nation of Islam and later converted to Islam in 1975.

He is an icon today not only because of winning the Heavyweight title three times but also because of his stand against racial injustice and anti-war stand.

]]>http://www.muslimsofusa.com/muhammad-ali/feed/0Malcolm Xhttp://www.muslimsofusa.com/malcolm-x/
http://www.muslimsofusa.com/malcolm-x/#commentsThu, 19 Feb 2015 00:27:01 +0000http://www.muslimsofusa.com/?p=58Malcolm X is described as one of the greatest African-Americans. He was born as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska to black parents. Assassinated at the young age of 39 years but had an impact much beyond his short life. Had a troubled childhood and youth and was in jail for some time.

He joined Nation of Islam after coming out of jail and became one of its leading members. He changed his name to Malcolm X where ‘X’ referred to his unknown ancestry. Later he was disillusioned with the teachings of Nation of Islam and converted to Sunni Islam. He was the spiritual guiding force behind legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.